Where?

The Berndt Museum is located in Perth at the University of Western Australia.

It is on the Ground Floor of the Social Sciences Building, Hackett Drive Entrance No. 1.

The Campus Map shows the location of the Museum in the Social Sciences Building, on the south side of the enclosed courtyard beside the disabled access symbol. Click at right on Index, then Museums, then Berndt Museum to locate the position of the Museum precisely.

The Museum is open to the public on Mondays and Wednesdays 2.00-4.30pm, Fridays 10.00am-2.00pm, other times by prior appointment only.

The Museum is closed to the public for curatorial activities from 1st December 2009 to 31st January 2010.

The Museum welcomes enquiries from scholars and researchers, subject to staff availability.

Facts and Figures

When?

The Museum was established in 1976 to house the collections held in the Department of Anthropology. Initially known as the Anthropology Research Museum, it was renamed the Berndt Museum of Anthropology in 1992 in honour of the contribution made by Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt to both Australian and international anthropology.

Why?

Anthropology or ethnographic museums are common elsewhere in the world, especially North America and Europe, but in Australia this is the only 'stand-alone' anthropology museum not part of a teaching department. It houses collections by anthropologists of cultural materials, photographs, sound recordings and the like.

What?

The Museum holds extensive collections of Australian Aboriginal art and cultural materials, as well as collections from Melanesia, Asia and South-East Asia. The Museum is internationally known for the excellence of its Australian collections, chiefly from Arnhem Land (N.T.), the Kimberley, Western Desert and South-West regions of Western Australia, and for the high quality and detail of accompanying documentation. The photographic collection of over 35,000 images is extensively utilised by Aboriginal families and communities, as well as by individual researchers.

How?

The Museum commissions and purchases contemporary art and artefacts in the course of social anthropological fieldwork. The Museum's acquisition policy focuses on contemporary Aboriginal art from the western half of the continent, particularly Western Australia, but also includes materials relevant to other areas of the collection.

How Many?

The Museum holds approximately 11,000 objects, including artworks; some 35,000 photographs both historic and contemporary; hundreds of sound and video recordings; a reference library comprising some 4,000 volumes; and an extensive archive relating to the history of the Museum, its collections and its collectors.

Administration

The Museum is administered as a Centre within the Cultural Precinct and the Director reports to the Precinct Director, Professor Ted Snell. The Museum Advisory Board meets quarterly on the second Tuesday of the months of March, June, September and November.

Who?

See also Staff Pages

General Enquiries:

Telephone: (08) 6488 2854
(International) (+618) 6488 2854
Email: berndt.museum@uwa.edu.au
Facsimile: (08) 6488 1165
(International) (+618) 6488 1165

Director: Dr John E. Stanton
Telephone: (08) 6488 3854
(International) (+618) 6488 3854
Email: john.stanton@uwa.edu.au.au

Personal Assistant to the Director: Rita Bennett
Telephone: (08) 6488 4785
(International) (+618) 6488 4785
Email: rita.bennett@uwa.edu.au

Deputy Director: Nell Ustundag (on leave)
Telephone: (08) 6488 7800
(International) (+618) 6488 7800
Email: nell.ustundag@uwa.edu.au

Assistant Curator: Barbara Matters
Telephone: (08) 6488 2854
(International) (+618) 6488 2854
Email: barbara.matters@uwa.edu.au

Curatorial Assistant – Photographic Digitisation Project: Alison Nannup
Telephone: (08) 6488 8701
(International) (+618) 6488 8701
Email: alison.nannup@uwa.edu.au

Curatorial Assistant – Photographic Digitisation (Temporary): Karyn Cameron
Telephone: (08) 6488 8904
(International) (+618) 6488 8904
Email: camerk01@student.uwa.edu.au

Assistant Curator: (Vacant)
Telephone: (08) 6488 2854
(International) (+618) 6488 2854
Email:

Assistant Curator (Collections): Nell Ustundag (on leave)
Telephone: (08) 6488 1165
(International) (+618) 6488 1165
Email: nell.ustundag@uwa.edu.au

Conservator (Part-time): Smadar Gabrieli (on leave)
Telephone: (08) 6488 3079
(International) (+618) 6488 3079
Email: rgabriel@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Relocation Manager: vacant
Telephone: (08) 6488 1165
(International) (+618) 6488 1165
Email: @cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Relocation Assistant: Fiona Gavino
Telephone: (08) 6488 3079
(International) (+618) 6488 3079
Email: fiona.gavino@uwa.edu.au

MUSEUM CAMPAIGN (Office of Development)

Campaign Manager: Ms Lisa Rossi
Telephone: (08) 6488 4205
(International) (+618) 6488 4205
Fax.: (08) 6488 1063 Mob.: 041 0146 981 Email: lisa.rossi@uwa.edu.au

Administrative Assistant: vacant
Telephone: (08) 6488 7242
(International) (+618) 6488 7242
Email:

Museum Connections

The Berndt Museum is a member of Museums Australia, and also actively involved in the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (AICCM), the Conference of Museum Anthropologists (COMA), and the Council of Australian University Museums and Collections (CAUMAC), the International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC), a section of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Museum also participates in Australian Museums On Line. Most recently, the Museum ihas become a member of the Indigenous Collections and Knowledge Archives Research Network, IDIG.

The Museum participates in the Cultural Gifts Program, through which tax deductible donations of material items may be made to the Museum.

Other sites of interest include the following:-

Warlayirti Artists, Balgo
Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative
Buku Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala
Desart
Koorie Heritage Trust
Mangkaja Arts
Maningrida Arts & Culture
Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute
Warmun Art Centre, Turkey Creek